Counterterrorism research and development

An effective de-radicalization process in prisons is intended to facilitate the renouncement of violence and terrorism by those that have carried out such offenses. A key lesson that can be drawn from Israel's de-radicalization efforts is that it is possible, indeed recommended, to treat inmates—regardless of their level of radicalization—in a dignified and humane manner. However, Israel's ability to significantly de-radicalize security prisoners is limited if it is at all existent in its current form. Security prisoners with the potential for positive change should be placed in a different, perhaps foreign setting. This article provides an overview of Israel's prison system, the challenges it faces, its efforts to de-radicalize security inmates and suggests additional courses of action.     

Performing through Friday khutbas: re-instrumentalization of religion in the new Turkey

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between religion and politics in current Turkish society, particularly since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) consolidated its power over state institutions and replaced the Kemalist establishment in the early 2010s. It argues that the AKP has re-instrumentalized the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and used its mosques to enact a performance of nationalism, deviating from a Kemalist, laicist-national identity towards a more encompassing, Ottomanist, religious one. After discussing the unique understanding of laicism in Turkey and the transformation of Diyanet as a state apparatus, content and discourse analyses are used to examine the texts of 1,200 Friday khutbas, weekly prayers that are ordinarily prepared and distributed nationwide by Diyanet. These indicate how citizens perform their nation simply by participating in gatherings, composing the congregation, listening to imams, and being exposed to the reminders of their (re-)identified nationality. The content analysis of Friday khutbas over three distinct periods—1927, 1997–2010, and 2011–2018—illustrates that, as political power shifts over time, the repetition of certain banal reminders used in the khutbas has resulted in different performances of the nation and that, under the rule of the AKP, a new performance has already begun.     

Incomes policy,productivity and manual worker earnings in the local government sector

This paper considers how the three main political parties — and the two nationalist parties ‐ use model standing orders to bring cohesion and discipline to their council party groups. The paper explores how these models indicate the national party's expectations of the organisation and activities of the group and the relationship between the group and its members. It compares the key similarities and differences in the parties’ approaches to regulating group activity. It examines the role of group standing orders in maintaining councillor loyalty to the group and ensuring councillors act as unified blocs in public.     

The Party of Democratic Socialism in the new Germany

The Party of Democratic Socialism's electoral prowess reflects the success other reformed communist parties are having with voters disillusioned with the changes since 1989. This article seeks to explain why it is doing so well, what kind of people are drawn to it, and what its success tells us about the new eastern political culture and the consequences of unification. Its future prospects depend on how quickly the two parts of Germany become integrated and how effectively the other parties respond to eastern Germans' feelings. PDS success is a product of eastern German attitudes and conditions. It thrives on the tensions between east and west and on east Germans asserting their determination to be different from west Germans. But it will experience difficulty in continuing to derive its identity from a mixture of nostalgia for certain aspects of the GDR and animosity toward western Germans. With its path to western voters blocked, with growing intraparty disunity, and with a leader absorbed by charges that he had been a Stasi collaborator, the PDS faces a serious struggle to survive in the 21st century as a long-term significant political force.     

Levels of Centralisation and Autonomy in Russia’s ‘Party of Power’: Cross-Regional Variations

The institutionalisation and nationalisation of Russia’s party system, which is dominated by United Russia (Edinaya Rossiya—UR), has played a major role in the building of Putin’s ‘power vertical’. Nevertheless, despite the fact that formal relations within UR are highly centralised, informal practices allow for far greater degrees of regional autonomy. Focusing on UR’s candidate selection for the 2011 Duma election this article provides an examination of cross-regional variations in the relations between UR’s Party Centre and its regional branches. As electoral legislation requires the segmentation of party lists into ‘regional groups’, the composition of the regional lists, specifically the share of ‘native candidates’, is considered as an indicator of the level of autonomy of regional branches. Ordinal regression analysis confirms our main theoretical hypotheses. In the more financially autonomous regions, UR’s regional branches will have more leverage and bargaining power in their relations with the Party Centre. A second important factor is heterogeneity: the more a region’s socio-economic indices deviate from the national average (either up or down), the less its UR branch is subordinate to the Party Centre.     

Political linkages between CSOs and parliament in Indonesia: a case study of political linkages in drafting the Aceh Governance Law

This research explores how political linkages between civil society organizations (CSOs) and Parliament are established, formed, and operated, using the drafting of the Aceh Governance Law as a case study. It finds that the initiative of establishing political linkages between CSOs and Parliament was taken by the CSOs joined in the Aceh Democracy Network (JDA, Jaringan Demokrasi Aceh). It confirms Lawson’s finding that parties are not the only linkage providers; however, the establishment of non-party linkages are not indicators of parties’ failure to provide linkage. This article shows how what Lawson terms ‘typology’—participatory linkage, policy-responsive linkage, linkage by reward, directive or coercive linkage—is manifested more as different ‘dimensions’ of linkages. Participatory linkage involves a bottom-up model, unlike directive or coercive linkage, which are top-down. Likewise, the motives behind responsive linkages—for aspirations, demands, and views to be heard—tend to be from the bottom, while the motives of linkage by reward is more frequently from the top.Abbreviations: ACSTF: Aceh Civil Society Task Force; ADF: Aceh Development Fund. Independent non-profit organization that works to mobilize funds and other resources to be channelled to CSOs are characterized by changes in the framework of poverty alleviation and strengthening of democracy, with the scope of the working area of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam; AJMI: Aceh Judicial Monitoring Institute. Aceh-based nongovernmental organization which advocates for victims of state violence; Cetro: Centre for Electoral Reform. Non-profit organization that aim to strengthen and promote fair elections through electoral system reformation; Demos: Lembaga Kajian Demokrasi dan Hak Asasi (democracy and human rights think tank); ELSAM: Lembaga Studi dan Advokasi Masyarakat (Institute for Societal Study and Advocacy); Flower: Aceh-based civil society organization concerned with gender, empowerment and strengthening grassroots women in urban and rural areas; FORBES: Forum bersama politisi asal Aceh (Joint Forum of Politicians from Aceh); Forum: LSM Aceh Forum Lembaga Swadaya Masyarakat (Aceh Nongovernment Organization Forum); GAM: Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh Movement); Golkar: Golongan Karya (Functional Groups). Party formed under the New Order and represented as a governmental party at that time; ICW: Indonesia Corruption Watch. Nongovernmental organization founded in 1998 whose primary mission is to monitor and report to the public incidents of corruption in Indonesia; Imparsial: Indonesian Human Rights Monitor. Founded in 2002 to monitor and investigate human right violations; JDA: Jaringan Demokrasi Aceh (Aceh Democracy Network); JPUK: Jaringan Perempuan untuk Kebijakan (Women’s Policy Network); Kalyanamitra: Women’s advocacy organization, especially for women who work as labourers, farmers, fishers, informal sector workers. Kalyanamitra derives from Sanskrit ‘Good Friend’; Koalisi NGO HAM: Coalition of Human Right Nongovernment Organizations. Founded in 1998 by nongovernmental organizations whose concern is promoting human rights in Aceh; KontraS: Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence; KPMD: Komite Monitoring Perdamaian dan Demokrasi (Committee for Peace and Democracy). Founded in Aceh in 2002 to bring peace and justice for Acehnese people; MISPI: Mitra Sejati Perempuan Indonesia (True Partner of Indonesian Women). Aceh-based women’s organization that promotes women’s participation and encourages women to speak with their own voices; MPR: Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat (People’s Consultative Assembly); PAN: Partai Amanat Nasional (National Mandate Party). Moderate Islamist political party that was founded by reformists, including Amien Rais, former chairman of the Muhammadiyah organization; PBR: Partai Bintang Reformasi (Star of Reform Party). Islamist political party founded in 2002 as a result of PPP conflict; PDIP: Partai Demokrasi Indonesia-Perjuangan (Indonesian Democrat Party-Struggle). Founded by Megawati Soekarnoputri, daughter of Soekarno, in 1999; PDRM: Pergerakan Demokratik Rakyat Miskin (Democratic Movement for the Poor); PKB: Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (National Awakening Party). Established in 1998, representing Nahdlatul Ulama organization (associations of ulamas formed in 1926 in East Java); PKS: Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (Prosperous Justice Party). New name of Partai Keadilan (Justice Party), which emerged from the Tarbiyah party movement; PPP: Partai Persatuan Pembangunan (United Development Party). Founded by the New Order in 1973 as part of the ‘rationalization of political life’; PSHK: Pusat Studi Hukum dan Kebijakan (Centre for Legal and Policy Studies). Established in 2008 by several scholars, advocates, and law students to drive efforts for legal reform after the 1998 reformation; WALHI: Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (Indonesian Environmental Forum). Founded in 1980, its scope is broader than just environmental concerns, but also works for social transformation, people’s sovereignty, and sustainability of life and livelihoods; YAPPIKA: Yayasan Penguatan Partisipasi Inisiatif dan Kemitraan Masyarakat (Foundation to Reinforce Public Participation, Initiative, and Partnership). Founded in 1991 to promote peacebuilding, development of democratic local governance, active citizenship, and claiming state responsibility to meet people’s basic needs     

Relaxing the constraints from above: Politics of privatising public enterprises in China

This paper addresses the factors that caused widespread privatisation in China in the late 1990s. It argues that the relaxation of constraints by the central government made local governments less worried about the political risks of privatisation such as resistance from workers and the banks. This relaxation based on the policies of the 15th Party Congress, together with the economic rationale of reforming inefficient public enterprises, became a strong incentive for local governments to carry out this reform. As local governments regarded such reform as an opportunity to show their loyalty to the central government and to evade debts, a number of problems emerged in the reform process that affected the interests of both the central government and the workers.     

An Examination of Mental Health and Psychiatric Care among Older Prisoners in the United States

Despite that prisons in the United States (and other high-income countries) have witnessed an increase in the proportion of older inmates, and that prison populations exhibit high rates of psychiatric illness, there is limited knowledge on the nature of older inmates’ psychological health and use/provision of psychiatric care. The present study addresses these gaps, analyzing a nationally representative sample of 1,907 male and female older inmates (age range = 50–84 years; M = 56) housed in U.S. state and federal prisons. The results highlight: (a) the prevalence of psychological issues among older prisoners; (b) factors associated with certain mental disorders and symptoms of mental health issues; (c) the prevalence of psychiatric treatment before and during imprisonment for those with (and without) reported psychological health issues; (d) similarities and differences between male and female older inmates in relation to psychological health, factors associated with psychological issues, and the use/provision of psychiatric care. Discussion points toward recommendations for managing inmate mental health, as well as direction for further research on older inmate mental health and psychiatric care.     

Intellectual Orthodoxy,the Economy of Knowledge and the Debate Over Zhang Jingsheng’s Sex Histories*

Abstract

Since the Guomindang (GMD) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) adopted it as the basis of the marriage system in the early twentieth century, yifu yiqi zhi — which literally means a system of one husband, one wife—has been translated as monogamy. Yet the conflation of the Chinese characters yifu yiqi zhi with the English word monogamy resulted from contests over meaning that can be traced to Republican discussions on marriage and sex in general and on concubinage in particular, which attached the new notion of conjugal fidelity to yifu yiqi zhi. The criminalization of concubinage as adultery under GMD law and as bigamy under CCP law signaled the different meanings yifu yiqi zhi held in the early twentieth century, meanings that continue to influence contemporary usages of the term.     

REPRESENTING EUROPE: THE EMERGING ‘CULTURE’ OF EU DIPLOMACY

Debate over ‘loyalty transfer’ in the European Union (EU) centres on the assumption that elite socialisation and ‘spillover’ processes lead inevitably to changes in the behaviour and identities of European officials. This article interrogates that notion by exploring how officials in the EU external delegations represent Europe. The Lisbon Treaty (2009) will transform the delegations in ways that are emblematic of the EU's evolution as a global actor. Drawing on empirical insights we examine the way EU diplomats embody the European idea and understand their role in promoting ‘the European Union interests and values around the world’. At a moment of historic transition, the article highlights some of the cultural dynamics currently transforming European diplomacy and how officials conceptualize their work of ‘delivering EU external relations policy’. We argue that Europeanization and loyalty transfer are complicated by inter‐institutional rivalries that raise problematic questions over who can best claim to ‘speak for Europe’.     

The Transformation of ‘Holiday’ in Post-Soviet Space: Celebrating Soviet Victory Day in Latvia

This article discusses the celebration in Latvia of the victory of the Soviet Union in World War II. Since the restoration of Latvia’s statehood, 9 May has not been an official holiday, but it has become—as ‘Victory Day’—the most important history-linked celebration for the Russian-speaking community in Latvia. The post-1991 history of ‘Victory Day’ makes it possible to track changes in: policies toward history and memory in Russia and Latvia; how political groups have used these celebrations to further their own agendas; and the organisation of events on public holidays.     

The Legislative Process in Republican China: The 1930 Nationalist Family Law and the Controversy over Surnames for Married Women

Abstract

This article investigates the legislative process that produced the 1930 Nationalist Family Law Book of the Republican Civil Code, focusing in particular on the debate over married women's surnames. In the accompanying discussion, Guomindang (GMD) lawmakers, legal experts, educators, women's rights advocates, and others grappled in a remarkably open manner over how best to address the surname question in light of their concerns with Party consolidation, legal modernisation, gender equality, social stability, and individual identity. Although the outcome of the legislative process affirmed customary surname practices (albeit with progressive overtones), the process itself was uniquely radical, with participants thoroughly reevaluating one of the oldest and most fundamental patriarchal institutions in Chinese society. The legislative and post-legislative debate over surnames illuminates the Nanjing Decade as a singular transitional period in the history of Chinese law and gender during which law was subject to revision and amendment rather than orthodoxy, and GMD policy toward women was subject to deliberation rather than dictated by ideology.     

Nationalist Jāhiliyyah and the Flag of the Two Crusaders,or: ISIS,Sovereignty, and the “Owl of Minerva”

This article argues that by understanding Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) state-building processes we are able to understand how ISIS has developed while also developing a united citizenship body built from people in Iraq and Syria and those making hijra. The fragmentation of Iraq and Syria resulted in conditions that would prove conducive to the group's expansion and identifying these conditions is imperative to understanding Sunni extremism in the Middle East. The article argues that ISIS builds citizenship in two ways: first, by developing asabiyya—group feeling—among Sunni and second, by securitizing the Shi'a threat. Identifying and engaging with the concepts of sovereignty and citizenship helps to develop much stronger policy responses.     

John henry patterson's contributions to industrial welfare

This article analyzes the origins of industrial welfare — a concept of gaining employees’ loyalty by offering them various paternalistic benefits such as meal facilities, medical care, recreational programs, and educational opportunities. Industrial welfare programs in the United States shaped the personal lives, morals, education, and work habits of generations of American labor. The article provides evidence that industrial welfare was started at the National Cash Register Company of Dayton, Ohio. The president of the National Cash Register Company, John Henry Patterson, personally instituted policies and procedures that revolutionized and reformed the practice of management in industrialized settings. As a result of Patterson's initiatives, he is known as the “Father of industrial welfare.”     

An Analysis of Inspire and Dabiq: Lessons from AQAP and Islamic State's Propaganda War

This study analyzes how Inspire and Dabiq seek to appeal to and radicalize English-speaking Muslims. It examines how each magazine strategically designs ingroup, Other, crisis, and solution constructs and interplays these via value-, dichotomy-, and crisis-reinforcing narratives. This analysis also explores how narrative, imagery, and counternarrative messaging are used to shape readers' perceptions and polarize their support. While both magazines are dominated by narratives designed to empower readers toward action, Inspire relies heavily on identity-choice appeals while Dabiq tends to balance identity- and rational-choice messaging. This study concludes by identifying key lessons for counterterrorism strategic communications campaign and message design.